


SQUIDWARD'S FOLLY

by Meganekkun, RelleiDino



Category: SpongeBob SquarePants (Cartoon)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 02:43:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meganekkun/pseuds/Meganekkun, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelleiDino/pseuds/RelleiDino
Summary: thanks to rellei for inspiring this totally original work





	SQUIDWARD'S FOLLY

Why is this happening to me? Sprinting through the forest as her ALASKAN BULL WORM followed, Sandy cursed her clumsiness for approximately the twenty seventh time since she fell from a Combee infested tree. All she had wanted was a few Leppa bubbles, but no. Whatever higher power watching enjoyed seeing her losing her footing and fumbling for a perch on the branch. Plus, what do you know, shaking a tree wakes up its inhabitants, which happened to be a couple dozen Combees. Don’t they have anything better to do than chase me?!  
Apparently not, since they were still chasing her.  
Oh thank Ho-oh, is that the exit? There seemed to be a clearing a few feet ahead, if the bright light in between the trees was anything to go by. “ALASKAN, we’re almost out of this stupid Combee infested forest!” Sandy’s ALASKAN BULL WORM buzzed in agreement as they ran out past the line of trees.  
“Are you KIDDING me?”  
Yeah, this was not the forest exit. This was a dead end. The bottom of a ledge in fact. A rather short ledge honestly. But she definitely couldn’t climb a short ledge. Ledges weren’t meant to be scaled anyway, no matter how seemingly short. Anyone with a working brain knew that. So yeah, no climbing this ledge. No way. Unlucky.  
Sandy quickly surveyed her new surroundings, hoping to find a way to escape. ALASKAN buzzed protectively in between Sandy and the incoming group of irritated animals. Surrounded on all sides by rock and fast approaching angry animals, Sandy came to a stunning conclusion.  
“ALASKAN, we’re stuck.”  
If her beloved animals had had eyelids and could talk, Sandy was sure she would have narrowed her large nematodegy eyes at her and said, “Wow, Sands, that’s an awfully astute observation you made. Could you share with me your thought process?” Thankfully, ALASKAN was a kind animals that had been with Sandy for years now and understood that her trainer was sometimes rather silly and stated the obvious, so she just buzzed in agreement and squared up her four little fists to protect her trainer.  
When the Combees broke out of the forest, Sandy and ALASKAN were ready. They were NOT going to get their butts handed to them by some rag tag group of wild animals. No sir. The experience and expertise she gained from traveling around Johto didn’t just magically reset because she was traveling a new region now. That didn’t even make any sense, how could a top sixteen finalist from the Johto League’s Silver Conference with her long time animals partner lose to some weak wild animals? Right?  
Right?  
She was jolted from her internal monologue by a voice that was definitely not a animals’s.  
“Looks like you could use a paw right meow, Purrincess.”  
Just Hyperbeam me now, Ho-oh.  
Turning her head as slowly as possible to delay confirming her suspicions, Sandy’s eye twitched when she saw the telltail black snail ear’d cap, green goggles and trademark Spongebob grin. He stood on the edge of the ledge with his Purrloin resting languidly on his shoulders. “Aren’t you purrleased to see me?”  
Sandy rolled her eyes. At least the Combee stopped to stare at him too.  
“Look, I don’t know how you keep finding me in these situations,” images flashed through her head as she recalled the GogoatGate incident and the Fletchling fiasco, “But I can handle myself.” She grabbed a pocket from her belt, ready to call out another animals to help. “You also really need to stop with your awful puns.”  
“Nonsense,” Sponge jumped down from the ledge, hand on his head to keep his hat from swimming off, “As your loyal knight, it is my duty to provide assistance whenever you are in need, Princess.”  
He shook his Purrloin off his shoulders and grabbed a pocket from his own belt. “Plus, my puns are the Combees knees.”  
“They don’t even have knees, Sponge!”

 

Finally free from the angry but dedisnailed Combees, Sandy and Sponge rested on a large log they found. Glancing at the black and green clad boy as he pet his Purrloin, Sandy dug through her bag and pulled out a pouch full of Poké Block. Pouring a few out into her hand, she gave a brown one to ALASKAN to munch on.  
“What’s that, Princess?” Sponge was pointing at the colorful cubes in her hand.  
She offered him the handful of cubes and let him pick one out. “Never seen Poké Block before?”  
“Don’t believe so. Is it just animals food?” He picked up a green cube and examined it before offering it to his Purrloin. The Purrloin sniffed it cautiously before seemingly deeming it worthy and eating the block in a single bite. Sponge looked surprised that his animals ate it. She felt faintly insulted. “Wow, these things must be really good if Gary’s eating it. He’s usually a picky eater. What are these?”  
Damn straight. Smiling, Sandy offered ALASKAN another one before giving Sponge a few green ones to give Gary. “Poké Blocks are basically Poffins from Johto.”  
“From Johto? How’d you get these?”  
“My parents send them to me every now and then. They own a Pâtisserie selling Poffins, Poke Puffs, Poke Block, you name it.” Goodness, she was getting hungry too now that she thought about it. When was the last time she ate? I’ve been stuck in this forest all day. Realizing she wouldn’t be getting any other food for a while, Sandy popped a brown cube into her own mouth. Mmm. Tastes like chocolate.  
“Did you just eat animals food?”  
She turned to look at Sponge as she swallowed the sweet. Wow, he looks really worried. Like she had just drank a cup of poison or something. She stared at the blocks in her hand. Well, it looked like the Poké Block that her parents sent her last week. She stared at Sponge again. Huh, he still looked pretty worried. She wasn’t really sure what was wrong though. Might as well be honest. “Yes…?”  
“Isn’t that dangerous?”  
“No…?”  
“What?” He looked even more alarmed now. Like she didn’t understand basic concepts like animals type advantages or something. How rude, she knew her type advantages. Just not for clam type. That’s still processing. “But trainers aren’t supposed to eat their animals’s food! Some ingredients aren’t suitable for human consumption!”  
Oh. Oh. That’s what he meant. She laughed.  
“Oh, don’t worry. My family firmly believes that trainers should only feed their animals things that they themselves would be willing to eat. Everything we sell is suitable for animals and humans.” Plus the brown ones tasted like chocolate. Maybe it’d be easier to show him? “Here, try a brown block, they’re sweet.”  
Curious, Sponge did as she asked and ate the brown block. His eyes lit up. Well, she thought they lit up. She couldn’t really tell too well because of his goggles. But whatever.  
“Your family makes these? That’s ameowzing! It tastes like chocolate!” He popped another brown cube into his mouth.  
Sandy sighed. “And here I thought we were finally going to have a pun-free conversation.”  
Sponge winked at her. “Not a Chansey, Purrincess.”  
Wow.  
“Aaaaaaaaand that’s my cue to go.” Putting everything away properly and recalling ALASKAN into her pocket, she got up off the log and dusted off her pink shorts and black leggings before walking away.  
“Aw, don’t be like that, Princess!” Sponge recalled Gary as he followed her, falling into step beside her.  
She was not going to sit in a forest all day listening to his puns. “I need to get out of this forest, Sponge. I’ve been stuck here the whole day.” At least she was on a path now. Sponge had showed her where the path was after dealing with the Combees. “I wonder how much longer it is till the next town.”  
“Not much longer. I was there this morning.”  
Sandy stared at him. He stared back, arms resting behind his head. Neither stopped walking during this staring contest.  
“If you were there this morning, what are you doing back in this forest?” Why would he subject himself to the terror and anguish of this forest again? He probably knew his way around it, but still. This forest was awful. Couldn’t even pick bubbles safely. Absolutely terrible. 2/10. Would not recommend. - IGN  
“Looking for you, actually.”  
What. Why would he be looking for her? Was he looking for someone to try new puns on? Did she forget something in the last town? Maybe he was trying to return it to her? Maybe he wanted to show her something? No, wait. He was stalking her, wasn’t he? Whoa, Sandy. That’s quite a jump in logic there. Don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s definitely a plausible and reasonable answer to all this. Sandy eyed him warily and finally asked, “Why were you looking for me?”  
Sponge gave her one of this trademark grins. “Wanna be my partner in a multi battle tournament?”  
Sponge grinned as Sands signed her name next to his on the registration form. She had tentatively agreed yesterday so he was smiling like a fool as he watched her turn in the form.  
He was so excited. My first multi battle! He wondered how it would go. How different would it be from a regular battle? What animals would Sandy use? What kind of trainers would they be facing? He sighed happily. So many new expurriences. He was jolted from these thoughts when Sandy spoke.  
"Alright, we're all signed up so we're good to compete. But I have things to do before this starts in two hours so I'll see you back here at noon, okay?" Sandy was looking at the time on her PokéGear, setting an alarm. "That will give us half an hour to prepare. Is that fine with you?"  
Sponge looked at his C-Gear and scrolled through his schedule, noting that a check-in deadline was coming up. He could get that out of the way before the tournament. He gave her a nod. "Yep. Sounds good."  
Sandy gave him a nod before walking towards the shopping district. "Don’t get into trouble, Sponge!"  
"I think I should be telling you that, Purrincess." Sponge gave her a wink and a two fingered salute. He caught one last eye roll before she turned a corner and was out of his sight.  
It was time to check in with Natalie. He headed towards the animals Center so he could change into Adrien. After healing his animals, he walked into the changing room as Spongebob and walked out as Adrien Agreste. He'd been doing this for a few weeks now, since the start of his very first animals adventure, and no one seemed to notice that rising star coordinator Adrien Agreste disappeared into the changing rooms and never came out. Or that he’d suddenly come out of the changing rooms without ever being seen in the center to begin with.  
Whatever. He's not going to look a gift Horsea in the mouth.  
Losnailing the phones at the other end of the animals Center, he made his way over and dialed. After two rings, Natalie's face appeared on the video screen. She was looking at the tablet in her hand and only spared a brief glance up to confirm who she was talking to.  
"Good afternoon, Adrien."  
"Hello Natalie. I'm calling to check in. I’ve arrived in Santalune City." He also battled a couple dozen Combees in the forest, but she didn’t need to know that.  
"Alright. Your schedule was recently updated with a PR Video shoot in Lumoise City. Please familiarize yourself with the details."  
"I understand. Is there anything else?"  
"No. That is all."  
"Thank you, Natalie. I'll check in when I get to the next city."  
With a nod goodbye from Natalie, the call ended. Adrien checked the time. The call didn’t even last a minute.  
With nothing else to do, Adrien walked out of the animals center to check out the town. It was a traditional city, quaint, and unassuming. As he passed a beautiful Roselia statue fountain, he spotted Sandy through the window of the town boutique.  
Without really thinking it through, he was already opening the door to the store and walking in. By the time he realized that he wasn’t Spongebob at the moment and that Adrien didn’t know Sandy like Sponge did, he was already standing next to her as she browsed through articles of clothing. Upon noticing someone beside her, she glanced over to see who it was. Adrien wasn’t really sure what went through her head when she saw him, but her eyes widened as she jumped away from him, arms flailing. She started sputtering.  
"Ah-wha. I- Hi, uh, didn't. Y-you, I-I see you. I mean, I DIDN'T see you. Yes." She stopped flailing but her eyes were still wide in panic, darting everywhere.  
Wow. Smooth, Adrien. You ruined a perfectly good Sandy is what you did. Look at her. She's got anxiety.  
I can fix this. Adrien smiled at her. She gasped and stopped breathing, deathly still. His eyes widened. What. Did his smile kill people?  
Maybe talking would help?  
"Hey. It's been awhile." He tried to quickly recall if he, as Adrien, should know her name. He shouldn't. "I didn't snailch your name last time. My name is Adrien."  
She was silent for a second before exhaling quickly and gulping down a lungful of air to respond. She smiled awkwardly. "M-Sandy."  
He nodded slowly, unsure if sudden moves would scare her at this point. Why is she acting so oddly? "So what were you looking at?"  
She turned her head sharply to the display beside them and then to the article in her hand. He's afraid her head is going to fall off at this point. Why is this turning out so badly? What did he do wrong? This is how you talk to people, no?  
"Uh, I was, the shirt. I mean, looking at, this shirt." She loosened her intense grip on the shirt, offering it to him.  
This is good. We're making progress. He gently took the shirt, her hand shaking when his fingers brushed hers. He held the shirt out in front of him and looked back at Sandy, imagining the shirt on her. Cute. "I think it would look nice on you."  
She seemed to have calmed down, if the fact that she was breathing properly was anything to go by. "Ah, I wasn't, going to buy it. I-I'm just looking. For ideas." She's wringing her hands now though.  
Oops. She was busy and he interrupted her. "Oh, sorry for bothering you. I didn't-"  
"No!"  
Adrien jerked back from her sudden exclamation, dropping the shirt back onto the display. What? Am I too close? Maybe she’s really upset- His thoughts were interrupted when she started talking again.  
"I mean, it’s okay. I, uh, I'm glad to see you a-again." She's not looking at him anymore. Apparently the floor is super interesting? He glanced at the floor and saw nothing. He furrowed his eyebrows. What? He looked back up and noticed her hands.  
Wow, her fingers are going to break if she doesn't stop gripping and twisting them. I'll save your fingers, Sandy. Invigorated with a new purpose, he gently took her hands in his, separating them so she couldn’t twister her fingers off. He smiled at her.  
Sandy's face flushed and her eyes were blown wide open again. Shocked, Adrien’s eyes widened too. What did I do wrong now? Maybe I should leave before I mess up anymore. She was clearly uncomfortable with him. Giving her hands a light squeeze, he let go. "I have to get going. I'll see you around, okay?" He gave her another smile before leaving.  
Once he was a good distance away from the Boutique, he crouched down, head in his hands. That was awful. His princess is terrified of him. She's probably still upset that he tried to snailch her animals in Vanville Town but was too kind to yell at him in the middle of the boutique. He had hoped that the explanation he gave when giving her a ride through the rain was enough for her forgiveness, but maybe it wasn't? How is he going to deal with his Princess hating him? Well, half of him? She's completely fine talking to him when he's Sponge.  
He took his hands off his head and looked forward.  
*The traditional view of the city street… it filled him with DETERMINATION.  
I'll get to know her better as Sponge! Then I can figure out how to get to her to stop hating Adrien! He looked at his C-Gear to check the time. He has just enough time to eat, resupply at the PokéMart and change back into Spongebob before meeting back with Sandy. He stood up, shaking his head to rid it of unwanted thoughts. He walked into a nearby Café. One step at a time.

 

Making his way to their meeting spot, he saw Sandy already waiting. She's here already? He checked his watch and saw that he was ten minutes early. I hope she hasn’t been waiting for too long. Speeding up, he called out her name.  
She jumped, as if struck by a thunderbolt, and faced him with wide eyes. Wait, I changed right? He looked down and saw his usual Spongebob outfit. Black and green jacket, black pants tucked into his black boots. His sight was tinted green so he had to be wearing his goggles. Affirming that he was indeed Spongebob at the moment, he looked back up and saw that she had relaxed again, eyes resting properly in their sockets and breathing steadily.  
She must have noticed his momentary confusion. "Sorry, Sponge. You startled me. I thought you were someone else."  
Oh. She must have thought it was Adrien calling to her. This is my chance! "Oh? Do you have a friend in town?"  
"No!"  
Sponge winced. Poor kitty. Hopes and dreams dashed with a just one word. I guess that confirms it.  
"I mean, well, yes? Maybe?" Her face was turning red again. Is she getting a fever? She shook her head. "But that doesn’t matter! Let’s focus on the tournament! It's starting in half an hour."  
He nodded, not pushing the subject any further. He'd take what he could get. Friend is good, even if she's unsure. "So what animals are you going to use? It has to be the same one through the whole tournament. I'll be using Gary."  
"I figured as much." She crossed her arms, her bright blue eyes narrowing as she thought. "goo lagoon types are weak to KARATE and nematode types."  
Sponge grinned. "Don't forget about the Fairies, Princess."  
She looked at him, not comprehending. "What?"  
"clam types."  
He watched as she caught on, dropping a fist into an open palm. "Oh. That's right.”  
He couldn’t blame her. He still forgot about the new clam typing every now and then too. Honestly, he couldn’t believe they just named it, ‘clam’ but eh, you take what you can get. Plus it was nice that jellyfish types now had another weakness.  
“Meh.” She gave a small shrug of her shoulders before she was silent again. Finally, she spoke up, seemingly coming to a decision. "I'll use ALASKAN. Her dual nematode/swimming typing will be useful since it covers most of Gary's type weaknesses."  
He nodded as he called Gary out from his pocket. The grumpy snail animals opened an eye to look at him before going back to sleep. "Sounds good, Princess. We'll be so pawerful."  
"Sponge!"  
He laughed as he scooped up his Purrloin and hightailed it to the field where the battles would take place.


End file.
